


tell no lies

by veronicabunch



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bonding, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, House Party, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Jughead Jones & Harper Lodge, M/M, Online Romance, Reggie Mantle & Harper Lodge, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 09:00:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10941234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veronicabunch/pseuds/veronicabunch
Summary: “You may think your secrets are well kept, but I know everything.”TRIGGER WARNING: There is suicide mentioned/reference throughout this fic. Not a main character - Harper Lodge, Veronica's cousin. Do not read if this might trigger you!





	tell no lies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jessicamiriamdrew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicamiriamdrew/gifts).



> I cannot stress enough that I mention Harper Lodge's suicide throughout this fic.
> 
> Also unbeta'd bc I'm lazy af.

******x x x**

 

Jughead wonders if anyone else knows Reggie better than he does. He doubts it. Reggie may act like he has a lot of friends, but Jughead knows that he’s lonely. Only Reggie doesn’t know that he knows. It’s a messy situation that Jughead isn’t sure how he got tangled up in this web of lies. Well, that’s not entirely true. He knows how he got tangled in this mess, but he didn’t really know why he _stayed_  there.

It started as a prank four years ago, in eighth grade, and slowly...well, now Jughead is worried that if he stops talking to Reggie, he might lose it. He’s somehow become Reggie’s safe space, and really, Reggie had become his. To lose that would feel like they’re losing a piece of themselves. At least, that’s Jughead’s guess.

Archie had been really angry at Reggie one day. Jughead can’t even remember what had happened. But they had been watching this show called _Catfish_ and Archie had begged Jughead to do that to Reggie since he had a computer in his bedroom. Jughead had agreed, mostly because Reggie’s high and mighty attitude bothered him.

He’d signed onto MySpace, created an account, and started talking to Reggie. It had been easy at first. All he had to do was fawn over Reggie’s looks and Reggie had responded instantly, thinking he was talking to a pretty girl that Jughead had created. It was only when Reggie started to open up and tell Jughead...or well, _Judy,_ how he really feels that Jughead had started to feel bad.

The next time Archie brought it up, Jughead had lied and said that Reggie had stopped responding to him. But the truth is that they’d become friends, even if Reg didn’t really know it.

Now, it’s too late to change things.

 

> **REGGIE:** _hey judy, I was just thinking about the days of MySpace and then MSN...god, do you remember in ninth grade when we used to stay up all night and talk?_

He does. Jughead’s been staring at the message for the past twenty minutes. Those were possibly some of the greatest memories he has, and he wishes he could go sit beside Reggie now and just ask him if he still believes that ghosts are real. Except Reggie and Jughead have always had a difficult time getting along in person. Either Reggie is a total dickwad or Jughead is feeling guilty for being Judy and he lashes out with insults he doesn’t mean.

Maybe it was time to come clean. But then, he might lose a person who understands parts of him that he hasn’t been willing to share with anyone else.

“Hey, why the long face?”

Jughead looks up to see Betty taking a seat at the table across from him. She pulls out her textbook and notebook. “Hmm? Ah, I missed lunch today.”

Betty smiles. “More like a second lunch. I saw you in the cafeteria when I was on my way to cheer leading practice.”

“Why are you doing that anyway? I thought that wasn’t really your thing,” Jughead asks. He takes his headphones out. Not that he’d noticed that the music had stopped playing a half hour before.

She shrugs. “Veronica likes it. And I like her.”

“Subtle,” Jughead teases. She rolls her eyes at him and clicks her pen. “Hey, um, are you going to Reggie’s party this weekend?”

“Oh. I don’t know. He always goes so over the top and last time, I had to call Dilton to be a D.D. for Veronica and Midge.” Betty rubs her nose and exhales. “Veronica and Midge spent the ride making out in the back seat.”

“Wow,” Jughead murmurs. He stretches out, leaning back in his chair so he can casually look at Reggie. Jughead had tried to ignore him when he’d come into the library forty minutes before, but it’d been hard not to. He seems stressed, and Jughead knows why. Finals are coming up and if he doesn’t get nearly perfect on all of them, his parents aren’t going to pay for university. They’re dicks like that. “I’m sorry, Bets. I didn’t know.”

“What about you? You gonna go to Mr. King of the World’s party?” Betty asks.

Jughead doesn’t respond for a moment. He hears her question and he wants to say no. But he knows that Reggie is having a rough time right now, so instead he says, “Well, someone has to. Besides, Reggie’s chef always has the best food.”

“Even better than Smithers’?”

He smiles. “Yeah. But don’t tell Ron that.”

Betty makes a gesture of locking her lips and tossing the imaginary key over her shoulder. Jughead looks down at his phone again. This time, he replies.

> **JUDY:** _how could I ever forget? those are probably the only good memories I have from those years._

 

He sets his phone down when Betty turns her textbook towards him and asks him for help. Jughead’s nodding, but his eyes are on Reggie. The secret dork looks at his phone and gets a goofy grin on his face.

Jughead’s stomach drops at the same time his heart quickens.

When his phone vibrates a minute later, it takes all of his self control not to look. Instead, he focuses his attention on Betty. She gives him a bright smile when he answers her question and says, “Juggie! Thank _you._ I must have read it six times but I still wasn’t sure what it was looking for.”

Jughead smiles and then he catches Reggie’s eyes with his. Fuck, all he wants to do is go tell Reggie it’ll be okay. People will show up to his party. People will get drunk and assure him how much they like him. Yes, maybe it’ll be because he always throws over-the-top parties, but maybe someone there will mean it. Maybe he will. And Reggie wouldn’t have to feel so alone anymore.

“What are you looking at, needle nose?” Reggie quips before turning his attention back to his laptop.

Betty shakes her head. “He’s so rude, don’t you think?”

He can’t look away from Reggie. As long as they’ve known each other, the tension has always been there. Jughead doesn’t know when it happened. He’s not even sure how it’s _possible._ But somewhere, in the last four years, Jughead Jones the Third had fallen for Reginald Mantle the Fifth. He’s so screwed.

 

x x x

> **REGGIE:** _hey judy, I know that you don’t live anywhere near me, but I wish you were coming to this party tonight. it’d be nice to have a friend there..._
> 
> **JUDY:** _how can you say you don’t have friends? you must. you’re always talking about ‘the gang’..._
> 
> **REGGIE:** _well, you know ‘the gang’ isn’t really my gang. they all hang out together and sometimes they let me tag along or I force my way in because I don’t want to be alone._
> 
> **JUDY:** _oh, reggie..._
> 
> **REGGIE:** _I didn’t want you to think I was pathetic and friendless. but no one really likes me and it sucks. I think I can be a decent guy._
> 
> **JUDY:** _of course you can! every year, you go to the post office to take dear santa letters and make kids’ dreams come true!! the gang must appreciate that side of you?_
> 
> **REGGIE:** _they don’t know about that stuff, juds._
> 
> **JUDY:** _why not?_
> 
> **REGGIE:** _because I’ve never told them._
> 
> **JUDY:** _maybe you should._
> 
> **REGGIE:** _no. I don’t want them to like me because I do something nice for kids during the holidays. I just want them to like me for who I am. if they knew I did that, then they’ll end up disappointed when I make a mistake or I fuck up or I’m mean_
> 
> **JUDY:** _maybe you should give your friends a chance to know you. however it is you want to be known. maybe don’t stress too much about being vulnerable around them?_
> 
> **REGGIE:** _you don’t understand, judy. you don’t know them. I’ll never be good enough to be around them. they keep me in the band because my parents’ dish out money for tours and stuff._
> 
> **JUDY:** _oh reggie._
> 
> **REGGIE:** _I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get this depressing on you. tell me. what are you doing tonight?_

Jughead stares at his phone. He knows what he wants to say. He wants to tell Reggie that he’s not going to let him feel alone anymore. Instead, he tells the truth. Not that he’s going to Reggie’s party tonight - no. He tells him what he’s doing on his way there.

> **JUDY:** _I’m going to visit an old friend at the cemetery._
> 
> **REGGIE:** _just call me if you need me._

 

x x x

 

There isn’t much that Jughead feels truly sorry for. Except one thing that will haunt him for the rest of his life. When Harper had been hanging around at Veronica’s place for a summer, Jughead had gotten close to her. She was cool. She had never pressured him into a romantic thing, and she had never asked him why he wasn’t a fan of girls. They had been fifteen, and she was one of the first friends that Jughead felt comfortable with.

She’d spent the summer with the Lodges because her parents were going through a nasty divorce. Harper and Jughead would sit at the Lodges’ pool and talk. For hours. He told her all about what he had been doing to Reggie, and she’d lectured him. She told him that he had clearly become Reggie’s lifeline and to _never_ betray that trust.

Harper looked older than fifteen, so she was constantly hit on by creepy men. Jughead figures that’s one of the reasons she enjoyed his company so much. He should’ve seen it. Their entire gang should’ve seen it. She’d been having a hard time with the divorce, had written a letter that Veronica had gotten too late, and then Jughead was crying in the hospital, begging the universe to let her live.

She didn’t make it. She’d taken too many pills and they’d been in her system for about twenty minutes too long. Jughead hadn’t known what to do, or where to go. Veronica had just lost her cousin to a dark depression that none of them had really acknowledged. Betty and Archie had been comforting her. And he couldn’t blame them. No one really knew how close he and Harper had become.

Jughead had turned to the only friend who hadn’t let him down. He logged onto his laptop and typed a message to Reggie. It’s only when Reggie responded that he’d stay up all night long with Jughead...well, _Judy,_ that Jughead started to be able to breathe a little easier.

He crosses his legs and sits down at the end of Harper’s grave. The Lodges had gotten her this massive headstone. She would’ve hated it. Jughead comes here when he doesn’t know where else to turn. He runs his hand over the back of his neck, rubbing.

“Harper, I miss you. I’m sorry I let you down.”

He always starts his visits off this way.

“I don’t think Reggie’s doing so well. He seems to think that no one cares about him. And I...I don’t want him to feel the way you did. I want to help him. How do I help him?” Jughead whispers softly.

He closes his eyes, and sniffs. He knows that Harper would’ve just urged him to make an effort to be his friend _in person._ He can almost hear her saying it with a dramatic roll of the eyes and an elbow in his side.

“What if he finds out and hates me?”

He doesn’t get an answer. He hadn’t expected one. But it’s a disappointment anyway. After catching Harper up on the typical Riverdale drama, he gets up off the ground, shoves his hands into his pockets, and makes his way back towards his car.

 

x x x

 

Jughead’s so anxious about Reggie’s party that he might take two or three shots more than usual. He ends up stumbling through the crowd, ignoring Archie and Valerie making out on the couch as if their lives depended on it. There are too many damn people here. And he’d wanted to tell Reginald Mantle that he isn’t alone. That people like him. That _he_ likes him.

But after at least twice around the first floor of the house, and one lap around the pool in the backyard, Jughead realizes that Reggie is no where to be seen. So he makes his way up the stairs, ducking under the caution tape.

He pushes Reggie’s bedroom door open without knocking.

Reggie looks up from his bed. He’s sitting up, reading a book.

“What are you _doing?”_ Jughead demands.

“What are _you_ doing?” Reggie asks, closing his book. “You know the rules. You’re not supposed to be up here.”

“Right, and _you_ should be down _there._ Looks like we’re both breaking social faux pas.”

“Are you...drunk?” Reggie asks, tilting his head. “I never thought I’d see the day. You normally just eat all my food and leave.”

Jughead nods, because Reggie’s right. That’s usually his move. Shit like this makes him anxious. Instead of attempting even the smallest excuse for why he’d been looking for Reggie in the first place, he closes the door behind him. “Reginald Mantle.”

“You okay?” Reggie asks, and he even looks _concerned._ “Jug, really. I think you’ve had too much to drink. Come. Sit.”

So he does. And when he does, he leans forward to put his hand on Reggie’s. He sways a little before saying, “Dude. We’re friends, okay? Don’t leave me like Harper.”

Then he promptly leans forward to throw up on Reggie’s bedroom floor. Or, more accurately, his super expensive carpet that his dad brought him back from a trip to Africa.

 

x x x

 

His head is pounding. It feels like woodpeckers are attacking him from every angle. Jughead lifts a hand to rub his eyes. The night before was mostly a blur. He groans, but then that makes his head hurt more and stops.

“Hey,” a soft voice comes from somewhere around him. Jughead squeezes his eyes shut, because he can’t seem to manage to open them. A poke in his back. “Hey, dude. Wake up. I have breakfast for you.”

Jughead rolls his head on the pillow to look in the direction of the voice. He barely manages to pop his eyes open, but when he does, he sees Reggie’s face on the bed beside him. He almost screams, but then he remembers his head so he stops.

Reggie gives him a soft smile. Jughead hadn’t known that he could be _soft._  “It’s just me. I figure with all the puking last night, you might need to fill up on some food. I know that you have an endless pit for a stomach so I got Lumière to make you up breakfast.”

Jughead groans, throwing his face back into the pillow. It smells good. Like...well, honestly, it smells like fresh laundry detergent and man. He swallows and realizes that Reggie’s right. He is hungry, even if he’s completely hungover.

“Sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to...” Jughead lets the words trail off. He flips himself over and sits up. A quick glance around the room confirms one thing: he slept in Reggie’s bed last night. _Fuck._  “I shouldn’t have drank so much and I really didn’t--”

“Jug,” Reggie says, smiling. “I don’t care. It was an ugly ass rug anyway. But I had a whole cleaning staff on standby so my parents wouldn’t find out about the party. I tipped them well, so they were fairly compensated for cleaning up your vomit.”

“How are you so _chill_  about this?” Jughead asks. He accepts the plate from Reggie’s hand and immediately grabs the piece of toast.

Reggie sits down on the edge of the bed. “You told me not to...not to leave you like Harper. And to be honest, I didn’t even know you cared about me.”

Jughead rubs the bridge of his nose. “I said that?”

“Yeah. It was...I just really needed to hear that, y’know? So. Listen, whatever you want, it’s yours. I have to go into the office and--”

“The office?” Jughead sputters. “What?”

“My dad’s office. You know, because if I don’t go in, word will get back to him and then I’ll be disowned. Normal shit. Whatever you want, it’s yours. I already told the staff to treat you as the guest of honour.”

“Why?” Jughead asks, confused. “Why are you doing this to me, Reg?”

“Because after you were done throwing up, you told me everything.”

“Ev--everything?” Jughead stumbles over the word; it catches in his throat.

“Yeah. About how close you and Harper were. How she would be so disappointed in you if you didn’t clean up your act. How devastated you were when she...when she was gone.” Reggie reaches out and puts a hand on Jughead’s leg. “You said that things were going to be different between us when we woke up.”

Jughead nods. “Right. Right. Well, uh, thanks, man.”

“I’ll see you at school on Monday. Take your time, Jug. And if you want, feel free to use the pool or game room or the movie room or--”

“Got it, thanks.”

“Thank _you._ ”

So he hadn’t come clean last night. He should have. Harper would’ve expected it from him. Instead, Jughead finishes the breakfast and...well, if he’s honest, the bed is probably the best damn mattress he’ll ever sleep on. So he puts the plate on the nightstand beside the bed and closes his eyes again.

 

x x x

 

When he wakes up, it’s later in the afternoon. He yawns, and his headache is mostly gone. Jughead notices that his plate from breakfast is gone, and in it’s place is a little card. He picks it up and reads an invitation to join the staff in the movie room.

Jughead’s confused, but his curiousity has been piqued. He showers in Reggie’s bathroom, drying himself with a towel that smells super fresh. He doesn’t want to get back into his own clothes, so he browses one of Reggie’s closets. That’s right. One of them.

He finds an old plaid shirt that he’s _positive_  Reggie’s never worn in his life and a pair of sweatpants. Weirdly though, both seem to be worn in. Jughead grabs the water bottle that someone had left beside the card and he heads downstairs.

Jughead has been in the Mantles’ house before, but he hadn’t really paid attention to where the movie room was. Usually, they went to the Lodges’ for that. He’s surprised and amused when he sees a little direction sign pointing the way to the movie room.

When he finds the neatly labelled door, he pushes it open quietly.

All of the Mantles’ staff, it seems, have spread out around the home theatre room to watch... _Back to the Future?_  Jughead smiles, and sits down at an empty chair.

“Ah, it’s good to see that you decided to join us, Mr. Jones.”

He smiles at Lumière. They’d met a handful of times before today. “Thanks. So do the Mantles know you do this?”

“Oh, it’s a requirement. Every Saturday, we get three hours off to watch a new movie. On Sundays, we can enjoy the game room if the Mantles aren’t using it. And during the week, we’re allowed an hour every day to use the pool.”

Jughead shouldn’t be as surprised as he is. Of course, Reggie would ensure his staff is treated well. He wonders how he would’ve ever convinced his parents. He smiles at Lumière before turning his attention back to the movie. He yawns, and lets his eyes flutter shut.

 

x x x

 

“You’re still here.”

Jughead looks up from the dining room table. He had managed to convince Babette - or, Babs, as she prefers to be called - to sit down and join him for a competitive round of _Crazy Eights Countdown._  “Uh--”

Babs stands up immediately. “Mr. Mantle, my apologies, I will -”

“Sit, Babs,” Reggie says, waving his hand. “I’m just surprised, that’s all. Who’s winning?”

“Right now, Babs is kicking my ass to the moon and back. I’m still stuck on seven and she’s on _three.”_ Jughead secretly hopes that Reggie doesn’t immediately rush him out the door. Lumière had told him about the delicious dinner he was planning on cooking up for tonight. Jughead hadn’t planned on staying until dinner, but _Back to the Future_  had ended and he hadn’t felt like leaving just yet. Besides, Babs had thrown his clothes into the laundry machine and they weren’t dry yet.

Reggie smiles, setting a briefcase on the table. Jughead stares at it for a moment. Reggie is in _high school._  No high schooler needs a briefcase. God, his parents were so screwed up. Reggie takes a seat at the end of the table, between them, and lets out a small sigh.

“Tough day at the office?” Jughead says, hoping to keep his tone light and friendly.

“Yeah, I almost got fired.”

“Your dad wouldn’t do that,” Jughead tells him with a shake of his head.

Reggie snorts. “Yeah, okay. I don’t know what fantasy world you live in, but he _absolutely_  would fire me. I made a mistake and Mantles don’t make mistakes.”

By the sudden look of panic that crosses Reggie’s face, Jughead concludes that he must have thought revealing that much was a mistake. Jughead shakes his head. “Your parents are fucked, man. And last card, Babs.”

“Drats,” she says, shaking her finger at him. “You are not catch up to me, Jughead.”

“I’m trying desperately,” he replies with a wink.

Reggie leans back in his chair and watches them play silently. Jughead spouts a childish insult at Babs, who just gives him a wink and goes down to her last card. Jughead laughs when she kills it and wins in a few smart moves.

“Dammit, Babs.”

“You should practice more, Jughead. You’re not living up to your claim-to-fame. Bah, you claim you’re a pro at this game. I’ve never seen someone play so poorly.” She blushes when she remembers Reggie’s sitting there too. Standing up, Babs adds, “Thank you for the entertaining game, Mr. Jones. I hope to see you around more often. Mr. Mantle, I shall go see if  Lumière has finished dinner. Will Mr. Jones be joining us?”

Jughead raises an eyebrow. Oh, how quickly Babs went from being a relaxed woman playing a card game to the utmost professional staff member. Reggie smiles, but his expression is filled with exhaustion. “Yeah, he will. Thanks, Babs. And no need for the formalities. Jughead can continue to see your true side.”

“Thank you, Reg. Have you spoken to your mother yet?”

Reggie shakes his head. “God no. I will. I just...”

“I understand. You just let me know if you need anything.” Then Babs turns on her heel to exit the room, leaving Jughead alone with Reggie.

“So. You stayed. Did you enjoy the house?”

“Yeah, dude. This place is ridiculous. And kind of...well, really overwhelming? I don’t know how you come home to this every day. If it weren’t for the awesome staff your parents hired, it’d feel hella empty.”

Jughead is casually shuffling the cards and Reggie seems transfixed by it. Reggie lifts his chin slightly, but his eyes never leave the cards. “Up for another game?”

Jughead raises an eyebrow. “How about we play... _Go Fish_?”

“Sure. Whatever you want. I just don’t want to think for a while. Or talk. If that’s okay.”

“More than okay,” Jughead murmurs. He’s not sure what’s changed. He wishes he could have a simple answer to everything, but their relationship is more complicated than even Reggie knows. “Alright, you deal.”

Reggie brushes his fingers against Jughead as he grabs the cards. He’s not sure it was on purpose or not, but Jughead feels his skin tingle. Maybe one day....

 

x x x

 

> **REGGIE:** _judy, I’m having a rough day._
> 
> **JUDY:** _why? what’s up?_
> 
> **REGGIE:** _I wish I could talk to you in person...it’d make it so much easier_
> 
> **JUDY:** _you know why I can’t do that._
> 
> **REGGIE:** _yeah, yeah, the parents would see the number on the bill and start questioning it. but still. it’d be nice to hear your soothing voice._
> 
> **JUDY:** _why don’t you tell me what’s going on, babe?_
> 
> **REGGIE:** _I’ll have to text you later...someone just joined me in the library._

“This seat taken?” Jughead asks, hoping that the nervousness doesn’t come across in his voice. Reggie shakes his head and motions for him to sit down. It takes Jughead a moment to get his study station set up. When he’s finished, he quietly asks, “Are you okay?”

Reggie tilts his head. “What does it matter to you?”

“It doesn’t. I just...you seemed more tense than usual in gym class today, and I thought--never mind.” Jughead shakes his head and presses his lips together. He could let it go, or... “I just, I never really properly thanked you for the other night. I’m sorry I got so drunk. I didn’t mean to _unload_  onto you.”

There’s a heavy pause between them before Reggie meets his eyes. “Don’t worry. It’s all in the vault.”

Jughead’s lips curl upward for a moment before he nods. “Cool, thanks.”

He pulls out his phone and opens the app that he only speaks to Reggie on.. Tilting his phone away so that Reggie can’t see, he sends one more text.

 

> **JUDY:** _I hope you can talk with them about your day, R. catch you later <3_

He snorts and closes the app. “Honestly, sometimes I wonder about Archie. He was going to meet up with me but he bailed to hang out with Valerie.”

Reggie’s eyes don’t meet his when Jughead looks up this time. Instead, Reggie is focused on his cell phone.

“Got yourself a secret girlfriend?” Jughead teases, feeling a little anxious about the whole thing.

“That’s funny coming from you, Judy.”

He almost doesn’t catch it, but when he does, everything in him goes completely still. He swallows and presses his lips together. Jughead takes a moment to take a deep breath before he asks, “What do you mean?”

Reggie rolls his eyes. “You may think your secrets are well kept, but I know everything.”

“I--I can _explain,”_ Jughead whispers.

“Why’d you do it?” Reggie demands, his voice tight and quiet. “Just tell me why?”

“When we were in eighth--”

“Not why it started. I know that reason. Archie spilled his evil plan three weeks after we started talking. I thought I’d play along as a joke. But then Harper...and I didn’t think it was safe to leave you without a friend. Then I started to rely on you. And I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For you to admit it was some big joke. For you to spill all my dirty secrets to everyone. But you didn’t. Why?”

Jughead’s heart starts to pound harder than ever before. He is at a loss for words. Reggie had known this entire time? He’s so stupid. He’d told Reggie things that even Archie doesn’t know. “I-- I couldn’t do that to you. You were--and I just--”

“Excuse me,” Reggie says, pointing at him. “But I just remembered that the seat is _taken._ So if you don’t mind, can you stop stammering and find somewhere else to sit?”

“Reg--”

“If you’ll please find another seat, that’d be great.”

“But--” He catches the hard expression on Reggie’s face and knows he’s lost this battle. He packs up his things and leaves. He doesn’t know what to do now. He doesn’t know what Reggie will do with their conversations. Maybe he’d print out screenshots and plaster them all over the school. Maybe he’d do nothing at all.

 

> **JUGHEAD:** _Reggie, I’m so sorry. I kept talking to you because I realized that you could use a friend...and then I needed one. and then I felt so connected to you that I wasn’t willing to give it up just yet. I was going to tell you. I was._

**x x x**

Two weeks almost pass by before Jughead sees Reggie again. He’s come to his usual visit to Harper’s grave, to sit and talk with her, and he stops behind a tree when he sees Reggie is standing there.

He’s too far away to hear what Reggie is saying. Harper and Reggie hadn’t been close, per say. But they had known each other their whole lives - the Lodges and Mantles have been family friends for decades. Perhaps Jughead simply didn’t know. He did know that she felt fiercely protective over Reggie. Maybe he felt the same, and Jughead had never asked.

Jughead leans against the tree, his expression softening as Reggie crouches down to touch the top of the headstone. He murmurs something before standing up and turning around. When their eyes meet, Jughead feels a little sheepish. He shouldn’t have spied on Reggie’s moment with Harper.

“Hey,” Reggie says when he gets closer to where Jughead’s standing. Reggie looks down. Some of his hair flops on his forehead, and Jughead realizes that he hadn’t slicked it back with some gel today.

“I didn’t mean to...”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Reggie looks at him now. He gestures to Harper’s headstone. “Harp and I are finished now, anyway.”

“I didn’t realize--”

“We grew up together,” Reggie explains. He shoves his hands into his pockets. “We might not have been talking when she...and I just...god, I remember our last conversation. It was in a fight over you. She told me to stop bullying you.”

“She--she knew that I was Judy.”

Reggie nodded. “Yeah, and she knew that I knew you were Judy. She yelled at me a lot the summer before...but by the time the second summer came around, with her parents’ divorce and all, I didn’t really have much to say. She could’ve used me, I think. I haven’t been angry at you in a long time, Jug.”

Jughead looks down, feeling a little ashamed. “You don’t need to forgive me or anything. I just...well, I liked our friendship, that’s all.”

“Why don’t you go talk to Harper and I’ll meet you back at my car. You didn’t drive did you?”

Reggie doesn’t wait for an answer. He already knows that Jughead walked across town. Jughead had always felt weird driving in a cemetery. It had always stuck him as insensitive. Jughead runs his hand down the back of his head and walks over to Harper.

He bends down, dragging his fingers across the tips of the grass. “Hey, Harper. I miss you. I’m sorry I let you down. I’m sorry we all let you down. You needed us and we weren’t there for you. I still feel like an idiot for missing the signs. I...I guess I’m not really good at that stuff, because I totally had no idea that Reggie knew I was Judy. Thanks for not telling me. I don’t think we would be where we are now if you had.”

There’s only the sound of some birds in the distance. He had almost expected her to reply. He closes his eyes. “I’m not going to mess this up, okay? I am going to take your damn advice after all this time and just lay all of my feelings out there. Maybe he’ll reject me. Maybe you’ll be right and I’ll be happy. I just...thanks, Harper. You got me here. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Jughead swallows, trying to hold back the tears. No matter how many times he came to talk to Harper’s gravestone, and the casket that’s six feet underground, he still had a hard time controlling his tears. Harper is...was, Harper _was_  a one-of-a-kind person.

He stands up, stretching his legs out. Then he walks to the top of her grave to run his fingers over the top of it. “Harper, you’ll always be my number one. I’m going to go tell Reginald Mantle that I’m in love with him. Blow me a kiss from heaven for good luck? Your OTP is finally confessing their feels. I...I think that’s the right terminology?”

A deep breath and a moment of silence later, Jughead starts to step away from Harper’s grave. He glances back and whispers, “Sleep well, beautiful.”

As he turns towards Reggie’s car, he swears he hears a catcall in the distance. Jughead looks around and wonders if that isn’t the faint sound of Harper’s laughter. He smiles. Even if it’s his mind making up the sounds, he finds it comforting.

When he reaches the car that he hadn’t noticed on his way into the cemetery, Jughead squints to see Reggie leaning against the side. The sun’s in his eyes, so he gets a little closer than he means to.

“Harper yell at you too?”

Jughead smiles. “Yeah, of course. Harper wouldn’t be Harper if she wasn’t yelling advice at people.”

Reggie smiles back. “I think she’d be proud of us.”

“Yeah?” Jughead shuffles his feet a little, nervous. “I don’t know. I mean, I did technically lie to you for the last few years. Although, you knew. So in a way, you kinda lied to me too.”

“Details, Jug.” Reggie reaches out and catches Jughead’s fingertips in his hands. “I know the last couple of weeks have been kind of bullshit. I needed some time to sort out how I felt. I was terrified that I was going to _lose_  you. Lose this. Lose my friend, my crush, my....I didn’t want to lose you, Jug.”

Jughead beams. “Oh, you never risked losing me. You had me wrapped around your pretty finger. Even when we bickered and stuff in person, I’m pretty sure I knew that I’d do anything for you. Thanks for being my friend.”

Reggie tugs Jughead closer. He loses his balance slightly and the space between them becomes almost nonexistent as Reggie grips Jughead’s waist to steady him. “Thanks for being mine, and for never telling anyone else my secrets.”

“Back at you,” Jug murmurs.

Reggie’s eyes aren’t meeting his though. They’re locked on Jughead’s lips. Harper would be yelling at them to kiss already, but Jughead likes the heavy air between them. It doesn’t last long, because then Reggie is placing a very tender kiss on his lips. It’s not at all how Jughead had pictured their first kiss. He had always assumed if it was going to happen, it’d happen in the middle of some heated argument. Filled with passion and anger and determination.

Only this kiss didn’t lack passion and determination - it was simply less prevalent. Instead, Reggie took his time opening Jughead’s lips and exploring. When he pulls away, Jughead is surprised.

“C’mon, this isn’t really the place to do this. Besides, we have a lot to talk about,” Reggie tells him. Jughead nods, because really, he had thought driving a vehicle on the cemetery roads was disrespectful. Having his first kiss with....whoever the hell Reggie had become to him definitely tops that on the inappropriate scale.

Jughead walks around to the passenger side of the car. They both pause though. Jughead’s not sure if Reggie can hear the cheers and a girlish squeal, but when his eyes meets Reggie’s, he realizes Harper hadn’t left them. Not truly. They’d always have her memory to remind them to live life to the fullest and to take chances on love.

“Pop’s?” Reggie asks once they’re in the car.

Jughead dramatically puts his hand over his heart. “Be still, my heart. I think this man might be the one for me. First date celebrated at Pop’s? Can hardly get better than that.”

Reggie laughs, but once they’re out of the cemetery, their fingers intertwine. They turn the corner and drive pass the cemetery. Jughead looks out the window and thinks, _Thanks, Harper. I love you. I’m not going to let you down this time._

x x x

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr.](http:/www.veronicabunch.tumblr.com)


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